The progress of 22-year-old right-hander Tyler Danish need not be measured by velocity reports, descriptions of the shape of his breaking ball, or a count of swings and misses, or any other proof that he is overwhelming. There's just one indicator to look for, and it's the same one he's looking for.

Other than the natural deception of his unusual low three-quarters release — though the Sox have made it look a lot more normal since he was taken out of high school in 2013 — there's very little artifice to Danish's game. He's going to throw his sinker and try to pound the zone with it. Rather than avoid bats, they're a means to a larger goal.

“My mindset coming into every game is three pitches or less,” Danish said. “If the strikeouts are there, the strikeouts are there. If they’re not, I still get 10, 11 ground balls and go six or seven scoreless, and I’m perfectly fine with that as well. For me, my whole mindset is three pitches or less and let’s move on to the next guy.”

On Tuesday, for the second-straight time out, Danish would admit he didn't regularly live up to his plan. He fell behind hitters frequently to start the game, and got knocked around in the third. But as is often the case when you throw strikes, a rough start became a yeoman's six-inning effort as he kept 60 of his 91 pitches in the zone and got seven outs on the ground.

“He needs to trust his sinker,” said Danish's catcher Kevan Smith. “He has a lot of good secondary pitches but the White Sox love sinker ball pitchers and he’s definitely one of those guys who has that in the arsenal. He has to learn to throw it with conviction, throw it with confidence, and just trust that guys are going to roll that pitch over 99 percent of the time.”

The open question is whether Danish's approach will project well to the major leagues, given that it demands so much of his command and the movement of his sinker to get through major league hitters, and a league scout said the Sox are holding up his career as a reliever by continuing to try him as a starter. For his part, Danish is realistic about the uncertainty of his future role.

“It’d be awesome to start,” Danish said. “Obviously, but whatever way they want me or call upon me, I’m ready to do my job whichever way that could be, relief or starting.”

For my money, the Sox are playing it right. It would be a shame to waste someone who can be so efficient cutting through a batting order before they're sure he can't be a starter.

Triple-A Charlotte

Smith went 1-for-4 with a rocketed single and an RBI in his final game at Triple-A Tuesday before being called up to spell Geovany Soto. His second stint in the majors earlier this year was as short as his first, but he said he felt more comfortable.

“Oh, for sure,” he said. “I feel like I start getting my comfort and then it’s all right back to the Minors. That’s another great group of guys up there. I try to keep my ears pinned back and take in everything I can while I’m there. There’s a lot of things to learn up there with those guys and I try to bring that stuff down here and help these guys as much as I can. But I’m learning every single day. I’ll be learning every day until baseball is over.”

Yoan Moncada had the day off for the 11:05 a.m. start Tuesday, but was in the lineup for the other morning game Wednesday and lined a single to right from the left side. Jacob May collected three hits over the two days and has usurped the leadoff role from Moncada for the time being.

Danny Hayes left the game Tuesday after one at-bat but was back in the lineup Wednesday. He doesn't put a lot of weight in the differences between the levels.

“I feel like it's pretty much all the same,” Hayes said. “If you go to Double-A, you see a lot more power arms, you come here it's more guys know how to pitch and have an idea of what they're doing. That is an adjustment period, but you wait for yours, and when you get that pitch you can't miss it. Just like any level.”

Zack Burdi pitched a scoreless eighth inning with two strikeouts on Wednesday.

A solo shot off the bat former White Sox Rule 5 claim Adrian Nieto was the only mark against Michael Kopech over six innings. The 21-year-old struck out six, walked two and only gave up one hit other than the Nieto homer.

He has 18 walks in 30 innings, but has 42 strikeouts and just 15 hits allowed. Being able to be a consistent starting rotation member is still a long way away, but Double-A has a ton of major league caliber tools and hitters not being able to square Kopech up is encouraging.

High-A Winston-Salem

The Dash were rained out Tuesday, and came within an inning of being no-hit in the seven-inning Wednesday makeup game.

Zack Collins went 0-for-3 with a strikeout, but threw out the only steal attempt on him behind the plate. Luis Basabe's average has slumped to .237 as he went 0-for-2 with a walk Wednesday morning.

James Fegan is the lead writer on the White Sox for The Athletic Chicago. Previously, James founded and served as Editor-in-Chief of BP South Side, and his work has appeared in Baseball Prospectus, ESPN SweetSpot, The Rock River Times and Athlete's Quarterly. Follow James on Twitter @JRFegan.